If The Undertaker Debuted Today In WWE, Would His Gimmick Still Work?

[Big Papa Santo]

The Undertaker, is one of the most well known professional wrestlers of all time, he's a hard worker, a sure-fire future Hall Of Famer, and is a big draw in the WWE, but lets be honest, as much as i love Taker, his gimmick is an undead, supernatural being who reaps souls, and lets be honest, a gimmick like this, would only work for somebody like him, but Taker debuted in the early 90's, were we had crazy gimmicks left and right, Max Moon, Bastion Booger, Etc. Everyone had a gimmick back then, but today, most superstars aren't defined by their gimmick, but by how good they are on the mic and how good of a show that they can put on, now im not saying that Taker cant put on a damn good wrestling match, or that he is bad or stale on the mic, but since those two generations are SO different, if Taker debuted on television with his gimmick today, would anyone take him seriously? Or would he be the laughing stock of the IWC?

 

["The Instant Classic"]

This thread has already been done to death. The mods should now start an Undertaker only thread like they did for Cena.

Or you could not be a dick and answer what the OP asked. Just an idea...

Now onto the topic. I do believe, like with all things in wrestling, if it was handled and executed properly, there would be success. He would need to be a darker character, truly like death itself. With today's technology, you could really sell that he has this mystically evil, death- fueled power. Have him retire a guy by "sending him to hell" (since the guy wouldn't appear on tv again, it would look legit, but would need to be a name people knew, not some jobber). People, no matter what year it is, will always fear death. Yes there would be some who laughed at the gimmick but there would be those who enjoyed it and the new child-based audience would be terrified at points.

 

[King of the Words]

There are two things that will never change. Death and Taxes. If someone were to do one of these angles properly, I believe, it would work because these two subjects never get old. The IRS character was great.IMO and the Undertaker character has been done perfectly. Having the proper guy play the character is the most important thing. Undertaker has the look, the size, the power, basically, everything that is needed to make this character work. I think WWE should keep this character going after Undertaker retires by having the proper up and comer play his son, who comes along to end the Phenoms streak at Mania 29 or 30 and start his own. But it would have to be the right person with the looks and abilities of the Undertaker to pull it off without it being lame. I hope the WWE finds the right guy for the job.

 

[mrpops]

Heck no. They tried remaking undertaker with "mordecai" and we all saw how that ended up.

It would NOT work today in our current era. WWE would have to re-invent their entire current product and the character to be able to pull that off.

Could you imagine a zombie from 20 years in his cheap fabric attire/ugly facepaint walking slowly to the ring to old generic music. Then getting in the ring, standing there for 5 minutes no selling punches, then him punching the other guy back a few times and then winning? I sure as hell cant. Everyone in the audience would be like WTF?

Undertaker is successful because he changes with the times. He always changes his characters, attires, music etc. He becomes a new character when he starts getting stale.

So which gimmick are you talking about because i took it as the original from 20 years ago! I hope you realize all his gimmicks are different.

 

[kurtryan]

Yes of course it will definitely work, what's great with Undertaker's gimmick is that no matter which era you put him it will definitely work. We've seen so many incarnations of his character and no doubt every time people here that "gong" sound it gives us the chills due to the mystery of the character. Even his Deadman Biker gimmick is still connected to the mystery of the Undertaker Persona, like a modern day deadman.

His moveset is something that every wrestling fan should witness in person. From the Old-school to tombstone to the last ride... he's truly one of a kind. Probably the best and most athletic big man in the history of wrestling.

He's got the look, size, speed, power and charisma, I can't think of any wrestler who can match with his athleticism. He's definitely far better than Hulk Hogan in terms of in-ring skills.

 

[Azane]

Today's climate is too realistic to bring in an undead gimmick, no matter how amazing a performer he is, the WWE would force him to change who he is, and "Cain" the Undertaker would of stuck until he was future endeavored.

Undertaker's timing with his career was as essential as his ability.

His biker gimmick, I could see working today though.

 

[Dagger Dias]

The Undertaker would probably get over today but would be nowhere near as relevant as he is now. That gimmick is as cheesy as it gets. It would depend on two things. The streak, and who is portraying the character. The Undertaker character is massively over today but that is due to the legendary undefeated streak and how skilled Mark Callaway is in just about every category. The gimmick would likely not get as much support without him and certainly not without the streak.

 

[DirtyD79]

No, too many people would dismiss it as too cartoony or the little workrate ****es would whine about him no-selling everything and his slow march to the ring.

 

[DeathClutch]

Undertakers deadman gimmick would never have worked if he was debuting now, and anyone who says otherwises are ******ed; Hell even Undertaker said so himself that after his 1999 when he'd played up the devil gimmick his character had ran it's course and needed to change it up, hense the American BadAss gimmick, I believe it was his Dad before he died who asked him to return for one last run as the deadman, and for most of 2004-05 he was the biker taker with old school theme song until Survivor Series 2005 when he returned and was pretty much his old self.

I could be wrong here but if memory serves me correct, Undertaker only returned to the deadman for nostalgia but everyone was behind him so he kept it up.

 

[kokoBawesome]

I wanna believe that the Undertaker would be successful, but it's a pretty cynical wrestling culture right now. I think that with the young audience he would go over well, especially if he started the same way he did in 1990. Back than he squashed jobbers and put them in body bags after the match. As a kid i didn't know what to think, I was pretty freaked out by the whole thing.

The older wrestling crowd might not be that into it, especially since we kinda hate the idea of a guy not selling moves. However, nowadays people don't come in the WWE out of the blue, so the IWC would know who Mark Callaway is from the indys. If the kids are into it, and he has some indy cred, it could work.

The best example would be Umaga. A few years ago this guy came into the WWE with a pretty corny gimmick. He was some sort of Samoan warrior that didn't follow any social norms, didn't speak any common language, and no-sold almost every punch that hit him. Clearly this isn't a realistic gimmick, but the guy was over enough to stay a main eventer for years. It was a few years ago, but its roughly the same crowd watching now as it was than. If we could all take Umaga with a grain of salt, why not the Undertaker?

 

[TheGamea]

I dont know how old most of you are but I remember WHEN the undertaker debuted, an you know what, he was ordinary, he was ho hum no one really got it and paul bearer was ANNOYING...



THEN...

the undertaker WALKED ACROSS THE ROPES...that move, that ONE move SINGLE HANDEDLY make the undertaker a star, other things like the streak and the bad ass propelled it but that ONE move won us over at 9 and 10 years old...

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

The only time I can think of as The Undertaker debuting and the gimmick not working all that well would have to be the Attitude Era. Sure there were outrageous gimmicks in that era as well but most of those gimmicks represented the people that were a part of the society rather than something supernatural. Maybe Undertaker would have worked had he debuted as a satanist, the role which he played as a part of Ministry leader, but had he debuted as that character, I do not think he would have lasted long. But I guess that is a completely different discussion. Old School Taker would not have succeeded in the AE in my opinion.

In any other era, Undertaker would have been a success had he debuted then. You cannot compare Undertaker with Mordecai or Boogeyman because despite the similarity in their gimmicks what set Taker apart was the talent, hardwork and will of Mark Calloway. He succeeded despite his gimmick, not because of it. A lesser man would have surely failed in The Undertaker gimmick but not Calloway. Therefore I feel that Calloway would have made it work in almost any era except as I mentioned in the Attitude Era. That is why, it should be noted that Taker changed his gimmick in that era.

 

[Peoples_Champ]

I don't think the Undertaker gimmick would get over in this era because the WWE is so mainstream, I think its advertisers would discourage a character that personifies death.

In the 90s when Taker appeared, the time was full of crazy, weird gimmicks. Undertaker was tame by comparison. Looking at the "reality-era", where wrestlers' real lives are their own gimmick, an undead character would be considered too risque.

I guess it shows the importance of timing. Debut in cartoonish-era of the 90s? Gimmick worked. Debut in attitude-era? Gimmick would have been ridiculously over. Debut now? It' hard to say, but it does seem too dark and risque for the demographic the WWE is trying to reach.

 

[XXJJ]

If the Undertaker debuted today...no way would his gimmick work. Things like kneeling to the urn would be viewed as way too corny. I could imagine some of the reactions from todays fans if he debut in todays era.

If he debut today he would be doing his American Badass gimmick.

 

[Monkey_Mania]

No, and because it's how the world works. 20 years ago. We weren't as desensitized as we are now. Blood doesn't even bother us, and in fact we crave for it. Chair shots aren't as powerful, so we want more violence. The Undertaker worked, because back then everything was campy and not so "real" as it is today. Nobody today believes that Taker is a walking deadman. 20 years ago though, that guy scared the shit out of us kids. So no, I don't think a character like The Undertaker would work today, and it's all our fault.

 

[Ex-Degenerate]

No, i don't think it would work today.. The whole dead man persona would be to corny, and would not be marketable in the PG era. WWE needs to be careful on character gimmicks. The backlash they got from the Mohammad Hassan character in the post 9/11 world is an excellent example of that.

 

[Leveller]

As much as i like The Undertaker i dont feel that he could make it big anymore. Sure he is great at putting guys over and helping with the talent aspect e.g. the ladder match he had with Jeff Hardy. The issue I feel is that the WWE has this "reality era" going and the idea of a man who cant die is about as believable as Santino becoming the next WHC. The gimmic was great back in the 90's. If Taer was debut now i feel he would have to use the biker gimmmick he had when he returned at Judgement Day 2000.